Blizsie naokolo is a Slovak expression that could be translated as "closer around". We have chosen this expression to describe the highway construction in Slovakia. It is expensive and suboptimal. It is ridiculous, scandalous and anti-social. We are trying to deal with all these aspects on this server.
A quick look on the map shows that all the road corridors are impaired. Instead of a direct highway Bratislava - Nitra - Zvolen - Kosice (main European road E58 which is identical on this trajectory with secondary road E571), the highway is being constructed on a composite trajectory E75-E50 Bratislava - Zilina - Presov - Kosice. (Black lines: in operation, red lines: under construction by end 2005, blue lines: in preparation, scattered blue line: still not decided.)
Why? Is it cheaper? No, it is 2-3 times more expensive. Will it be shorter? No, it will be longer by some 50 kilometers. Is it in a light terrain? 30 km of tunnels, need for many viaducts, bridges, massive excavations. Better climatic conditions? High altitude, longer snow coverage period. Almost finished? Certainly not - even today, construction of a highway on historical road E58 Bratislava - Zvolen - Kosice would be faster and cost less than finishing the nonsense Tatra highway. If the highway construction started on this road, the entire highway would already be in operation, serving the people. Instead of that, we got only chunks here and there and the most expensive parts with mega-tunnels still have to be constructed. A toll system will have to be installed on all the roads in the country to finance the expensive nonsense highway. If you are a taxpayer in EU, it is also for your money.
An another such nonsense is being prepared on the most important corridor North - South E77 Sahy - Zvolen - Ruzomberok - Trstena. Why do it "closer around" through Martin? Because the capital of the country is becoming Zilina. Economic power is concentrated in Zilina and all the infrastructure investments are going to Zilina: railroads, highways, airport and Vah river. Road network of the country is adapted to serve the future leading role of Zilina. New road network topology is being modified to star but the centre will not be in Bratislava. It will not be the historical intersection of roads in Zvolen. The new center will be Zilina. Again, for your money.
And finally why the nonsense "closer around" to Stropkov? Don't tell to anybody but minister dilettantissimus, his Excellency Pavol Prokopovic, used to have a ice cream store there in Stropkov. So when nonsense constructions are prepared all accross the country, why wouldn't he have one for himself? Just a little one. For your money.
But this is still not all. Is there something that would be even worse than nonsense? Something more superfluous than superfluous? Certainly. There is the so-called highway D3 going to Polish hills and forests. An example of vivatic dialectics and pig spending of public funds for chimeras and dreams. Tatra highway closer around D1 is justified that we need it for transit. If you object that if transit, then why not transit on the shortest path on the historical transit road, vivats will reply that transit is fine, but they also want to interconnect cities to give them economic development and economic development is reserved to rich to become even richer for money of the poor.
In case of the Kysuce highway D3 it is the contrary: there are no cities to connect, highway is going through a poor region without perspectives of economic development and with no investment absorbtion capacity, so there is only one role left: transit. But there will be no transit until the completion of the entire highway on both Slovak and Polish sides because no heavy truck can pass on existing 3rd class road in Skalite... (by the way this 3rd class road has now been upgraded to 1st class by administrative decree, but no road parameter changed, just to remove the financing of its maintenance from local budget to State budget) All that with many other poor and poorer regions, and there is a lack of funding even for the principal highway nonsense D1. Again, this is only a transfer of all infrastructure investments that noone else can benefit of, except Zilina. For your money.
If you don't know Slovakia: Zilina is the capital of the contemporary Slovak fascism. The vivats involved in construction of "closer around" are products of the so-called Zilina University upgraded from original Railroad Faculty, then Transportation University. There is an another institution there: Transport Research Institute. Former Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda studied at the Transportation University and worked for the Transport Research Institute. He has followed the original plans prepared by the Slovak National Party headed by Jan Slota (let's go to tankoch and wipe out Budapest). Because of presence of the Slovak National Party in the new government of Robert Fico, Fico's party is being excluded from the EU Socialist Club. A rise of violent extremist crimes in Slovakia is linked to warrior rethoric exercises of Jan Slota.